Posted on 03/22/2010 6:21:30 AM PDT by Gamecock
Pope Benedict's weekend apology to Ireland went further than any other papal statement on child-sex abuse by priests, but still fell too short for many victims of the scandals shaking the Catholic Church across Europe.
Following are details of some of the major abuse scandals in various countries:
SWITZERLAND: The Swiss Catholic Church is investigating allegations of abuse by clergy. The Diocese of Chur, in eastern Switzerland, said Saturday it was investigating about 10 complaints. The abbot of a monastery in the diocese said at least three of the 77 monks at Einsiedeln had committed acts of abuse since he took up office in December 2001, but no legal action had been taken.
NETHERLANDS: More than 200 Catholics have reported abuse after Radio Netherlands Worldwide and newspaper NRC Handelsblad revealed that three priests from the Salesian order abused pupils decades ago at a boarding school. The church there has set up an independent inquiry headed by a Protestant politician.
GERMANY: A Jesuit high school in Berlin reported cases of sexual abuse there in January, starting a series of revelations at other Catholic boarding schools and non-religious schools.
- The Regensburg diocese admitted physical and sexual abuse cases at a boarding school for its famous Domspatzen (cathedral sparrows) boys choir. Its director, Pope Benedict's brother, Rev. Georg Ratzinger, admitted to slapping boys to discipline them but denied knowledge of sexual abuse. The ensuing wave of abuse charges from previously silent victims has since reached about 250.
IRELAND: In April 2002, Bishop Brendan Comiskey of Ferns resigned over his handling of charges against a priest who committed suicide in 1999 while facing 66 charges of abuse.
- May 2009 - The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse issued a five-volume report that took nine years to compile. It said priests beat and raped children during decades of abuse in Catholic-run institutions.
- Nov. 2009 - The Murphy report, a government-commissioned inquiry into abuse in Dublin from 1975 to 2004 said church authorities covered up widespread cases of child sexual abuse until the mid-1990s.
- Dec. 2009 - After meeting two Irish church leaders, Pope Benedict said he shared the "outrage, betrayal and shame" over the scandal in Ireland.
- Feb. 2010 - Benedict held crisis talks with 24 Irish bishops at the Vatican. The bishops promised him they were committed to cooperating with authorities. Four bishops have offered their resignations and the pope has so far accepted one.
UNITED STATES: June 2002 - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops agreed on a new policy that would forbid pedophile priests from ever again acting as clerics - but not necessarily expel them from the priesthood.
BRITAIN: July 2000 - London Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor acknowledged making a mistake in a previous post in the 1980s by allowing a pedophile priest to continue working. The priest was jailed in 1997 for abusing nine boys over a 20-year period.
AUSTRIA: July 2004 - Austrian News magazine Profil ran pictures of priests kissing and groping seminarians at a Catholic seminary in the St. Poelten diocese.
AUSTRALIA: July 2008 - On a visit to Australia, Pope Benedict apologized for sexual abuse by clergy. At that time there had been 107 convictions for sexual abuse in the church there.
MEXICO: March 2009 - Pope Benedict ordered an inquiry into the Legionaries of Christ priestly order whose founder was discovered to be a sexual molester. In 2006, the pope told the founder, Father Marcial Maciel, to retire to a life of "prayer and penitence". Maciel died in 2008. His order acknowledged in 2009 that he had fathered at least one child with a mistress.
CANADA: Oct. 2009 - Bishop Raymond Lahey of Antigonish, N.S., was charged with possession and importation of child pornography. Earlier that year, he had overseen a $13-million settlement with clerical abuse victims in the Antigonish diocese in a case dating back to 1950.
WRONG.
Some of us hate blasphemy, idolatry and outrageous heresies
“I have discovered that, unofficially, that about a fourth of Protestants are Protestants specifically for their hatred of Catholics. Love of Jesus comes a distant second to these types.”
Must have lots of power being able to discern a person’s heart.
Welcome to FR.
And thank you for yur thoughtful post.
yur=your
LOL...........times must indeed be changing!
Kudos.
One of the more memorable posts from you (and there have been plenty) was a thread about the use of castrati in Vatican choirs in times gone by. I bet you found that on the front page, too.
Keep 'em coming, anyway. It would be a dull place if we didn't have to rebut the "Roman harlot" apologetic.
Putting aside your sarcasm, I'll comment that my observation was based on my experience. In college, I began to wonder if I was simply born into the right religion or not. A girl I was dating got me interested in born-again Christianity. I found that there was a lot of biblcal knowledge and some people were genuinely saved from a life of drugs, alcohol and promiscuity. It was beautiful. However, there was a large fraction of people who could do nothing but speak their hate for the Catholic church. And they would refuse to hear about the numerous similarities between their beliefs and the beliefs of Catholics. "Jesus healed the sick" was met with "Well that doesn't mean that good works will get you to heaven", etc.
I have experienced the hatred of some Protestants for Catholics. It's just as wrong as hatred of Protestants by Catholics. Why do some people continue to keep the divisions of the Reformation alive. Divide and conquer is the Devil's plan, and he's succeeding.
The Church is made up of men. Men are imperfect. Each man pays for his own sins no matter if clergy or not. No denomination is first in line to go to heaven.
It's up to the Church to police itself, and what was done in the past was wrong. We can only hope that the men today are rectifying the wrongs of the past. No human being is perfect, the only perfect human being that walked the face of this earth we crucified.
It is my opinion that there are people out there who would like to see the Catholic Church destroyed. For what reason? Only they can tell you that. No one is “killing the messenger” , but some people seem to be consumed with the telling of the message.
Yeah . . .
You’re a lightweight at bothering the Papists.
LOL.
Did she dump you because you refused to join her church?
***No denomination is first in line to go to heaven.***
< eyesrolling>
Gee, there are tons of Roman Catholics on FR who say Proddies are heretics and not going to heaven.
No kidding. and yet here's how the U.S. bishops respond to pederasty...
"June 2002 - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops agreed on a new policy that would forbid pedophile priests from ever again acting as clerics - but not necessarily expel them from the priesthood.
This endless scandal is a direct result of the foul theology which teaches that Roman Catholic priests are an "alter Christus" -- "another Christ." Priests therefore believe that lie and feel "entitled" to whatever gratification they desire. And since a "celibate" priesthood attracts men who don't mind forsaking a real family life with a wife and children, the situation is ripe for sin and tragedy.
Over three billion dollars have been paid out by the RCC in the United States in the past 50 years. And nothing changes.
CRIMEN SOLLICITATIONIS is still in effect, still threatening the victim with excommunication if he tells anyone except a priest about the sexual molestation he's suffered. No police. No parents. No teachers. Just another priest who is forbidden by church law from making the accusation public.
Sadly, even this scandal in Germany which directly involves Ratzginer's brother will probably never reach critical mass. There are too many complicit fellow travelers, some right here in River City.
Hmmmmm
Seems to be a trend with you Gamecock to start threads to have Holy Wars.
I am suprized anyone even reacts to your threads anymore.
Arent you the same guy the is anti Mormon too or pro...
What ever I just reconize your screen name as dissent amongst Christians.
tsk tsk
Thanks for the ping.
As for the number of RC threads Gamecock has posted, God willing, he'll post a thousand more. Any light shed on Rome's arrogant abrogation of power is good light.
That is truly good news about the seminaries. I had a friend go through about a decade ago and he was telling me out the open homosexual atmosphere.
I wish my Catholic brethren better than that. Again I say good if it has gotten better.
I was driving radio on and heard a coach (dont know if it was Oregon and never heard follow up on news at home since we are EWTN only right now)
Anyways a swim coach was arrested for many many sexual liasons with the 14/15yrs old females that he coached and it is supposed to bust some kind of swim coach sex ring right open because of this guy getting found out.
Did you hear this on local news?
Any hoo seems the attacks against the Church revolve around the Holy Seasons.
At least it is not on every Holy Day.
But the lil aliens are cool eh Quix.
Please.
at least le arrested the swim coach
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